Salvage Companies as OSROs: Benefits and Limitations

Abstract

Response to oil spills in remote locations have long be limited primarily by logistical considerations. Frequently, issues associated with these cases are driven by lack of infrastructure, preparedness and regional capacity. Whilst year on year the number of significant ship-source oil spills have been on the decrease and global response preparedness has generally improved, in remote areas they still present a challenge which can prolong the response and associated impacts. Correlated with oil spills the salvage industry has also seen a steady decline in the number of major casualties. However, the need for salvage contractors to maintain adequate capacity, infrastructure, equipment and expertise to be able to respond to major casualties as and when they occur still remains. This is especially important with the construction of ever larger vessels. The backdrop of fewer casualties, whilst needing to retain capacity to deal with increasingly complex salvage operations has resulted in an attempt to diversify and expand services provided by salvage contractors. Oil spill response (OSR) has been viewed by some as a natural extension to the salvage industry's remit to prevent pollution from casualties. This is particularly so for remote cases where advanced logistics, the ability to support a large cash-flow and global contacts are key to implement a response. Such regions are less likely to have established OSR organisations able, experienced or large enough to respond to the situation. Several recent cases have demonstrated that salvage contractors could be in a unique position to fill these gaps. However, based on recent experience from several cases where salvage contractors have overseen OSR operations, there are several limitations that should be addressed by these organisations to cement their position in this role. This paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of salvage contractors in OSR as observed by the authors over several cases and presents lessons learned with general recommendations for such organisations to sustainably complement the OSR sector.